


you're gone but it's whatever

by raviolia



Category: Welcome to Hell - All Media Types
Genre: Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Long-Term Relationship(s), Partying, Smoking, Swearing, Underage Drinking, Underage Rape/Non-con, Underage Smoking, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raviolia/pseuds/raviolia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>jonathan combs. life sucks for him, and there's no way to fix it. sock sowachowsi, gone for months. jonathan figures the only way to see him is to risk his life, hoping he may come back and save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. she eyes me like a pisces

Jonathan walked along the sidewalk blaring some old Nirvana song in his headphones.  
He took out a cigarette and lit it, then used his free hand to raise the volume on his phone. His eyes were half shut and tired. The bus stop was a block away, but that wasn’t his destination.  
He watched the school bus pass and waved sarcastically to the kids inside. Morning birds flew around the trees. It looked like a happy start to a day, but it was obviously going to get worse.   
Step by slow step, he continued walking. He passed the bus stop and threw his cigarette down, grinding it beneath his shoe. The park was close by. All he wanted to do- all he needed to do, was to try to suck back the memories. It was the only thing keeping him alive, and honestly it was barely enough. His breath was slow paced- just a huff compared to the wind. 

He reached his destination. The playground was there, hanging on a thread. The metal was rusty, swings almost falling off the hinges. He looked around for something to sit on. There was nothing that looked like it wasn't going to fall down.   
He settled with laying on the wood chips and looking up at the sun. The rays burned into his skin, but the breeze was cold. He shivered.   
His phone buzzed.  
It was another girl, another broken heart he was responsible for. He couldn’t explain fully to them why he wasn’t interested. To him the girls were a free drink, a free smoke, a free night to forget.   
He thought maybe if he started risking his life more, he would come back.   
Or maybe he wouldn’t come back, but it was at least something to get Jonathan out of his mind.  
There were plenty of thoughts that consumed his brain. Maybe he had left him for someone else? Maybe Jonathan wasn’t interesting enough? There had to be some reason.   
Whatever the reason, Jonathan could care less.

-

The school bus came and Jonathan watched it go by from his spot in the park. A shorter and skinnier boy came running up to him, taking long heaves of air.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” Jonathan’s friend Ben shouted at him. He walked up to him and stood there with his eyes squinting.  
“Nothing, okay? Just looking for stuff to do.”  
“Yeah, skipping classes everyday and sleeping with all the girls is just ‘stuff to do’, Jonathan, there’s something not right.”  
“Leave it alone, Ben.” He put his headphones over his ears and put his hands in his pockets.  
“I’m not stupid. I know you don’t want to talk, but I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.” Ben crossed his arms and looked right at Jonathan, who was looking down at the ground as he walked.  
“Listen,” Ben said quietly. Jonathan took off his headphones.  
“There’s a party tonight at Zack Melto’s house. He wanted you to come. We can talk more there if you want. You might get more… relaxed.”  
Jonathan was interested.   
“I’ll be there.”  
“You want a ride? I’m going too.”  
“No, I can just ride my bike. I’ll stop home first.”  
Ben slung his arm over Jonathan’s shoulder.  
“It’s gonna be fun tonight. I’m glad you’re coming.”  
“Yeah, me too,” Jonathan mumbled.  
“Well, I gotta get home. I’ll see you tonight, Jon.”  
Jonathan waved and Ben started off jogging back to the sidewalk and continued walking.  
The playground remained empty, but Jonathan decided he better move someplace else before any kids came and pointed at him, the boy laying on the ground with half-shut eyelids, looking close to dead.  
He got up and walked along the sidewalk, looking to see which direction to go. His house was conveniently close to the bus stop and the playground, so it wasn’t like he had to walk for miles. Still, any distance seemed too far for Jonathan.   
His parents were sure to not be home, but he wasn’t sure about his college-aged sister Cassie. She was his cover for everything. Cassie always had an excuse to why Jonathan had to be gone that night, or why he couldn’t go to school. Today it was because he had to go to the doctor for his “symptoms” of strep.  
Cassie also bought him cigarettes.  
“Hey, as long as you’re careful and happy, I’m down to help you,” she told him the other night. Cassie had long brown hair and brown eyes, just like the rest of their family. She dropped out of college and stayed at her parents’ house most of the time, chatting with her boyfriend on the phone. Other times she was working at the grocery store, making money to spend on whatever Jonathan wanted. For the most part, Cassie was raising Jonathan.

He got home, unlocking the door and knocking twice to let Cassie know it was him.  
“Hey!” She was sitting on the stairs as he came inside. “What you been doing all day, brother?”  
“Just at the playground,” he slipped off his shoes and sat next to her on the stairs.  
“Oh, God, Jonathan. He’s getting to you, isn’t he.”  
Needless to say, Cassie knew about him.  
Sock.

“Just forget about him. He’s gone.”  
The words echoed in Jonathan’s head.  
“I can’t.”  
That was the end of that conversation.  
“So what are you doing tonight?” Cassie asked her brother.  
“Homework,” he shrugged. She laughed.  
“What are you really doing?”  
“There’s a party at the house of this one dude at school. I’m meeting Ben there. I probably won’t stay long.”  
“I see,” she said. “What do you want me to tell mom?”  
“Just say I went to Ben’s to study. Tell her to not call his parents because they’re both at a concert together tonight or something.”  
“I’ll figure something out.”  
“Thanks, Cassie.” he nodded at her and started down the stairs to go to his room.

His room was dark, and helplessly messy. The closet was full of clothes and old papers from school he never finished. He was a good student. an overachiever, until this year. He cleared a spot on his bed and sat down to go through his texts.  
There were tons from kids at school, asking either what he was doing tonight or if he was okay.  
It didn’t make a ton of sense. He had been like… this… for a while, and some kids eventually gave up on checking in on him. It was the “nice” kids at school that still tried talking to him, to see if maybe they could get him out of this slump and be the school’s hero. 

He dug through his dresser, looking for something kind of decent to wear. He chose a plain white t-shirt that wasn’t stained with something and loose jeans. His hair was a lost cause, messily flopped all over his head. A hairbrush couldn’t even tame it. The mirror on top of his dresser showed his weak appearance. He gave the mirror a smile and it faded just as fast as it came up. The girls had always commented on his eyes, but now they were blood-shot and tired, and just as unattractive as he saw the rest of himself.  
There was nothing he could do about it now, hopefully the party would be busy enough that no one would pay that close attention to his appearance.   
He looked at his phone and saw he had spent nearly an hour just staring at his reflection. He held onto the phone and ran upstairs.   
"Hey, Cassie, you wanna give me a ride to this thing?"  
She rose from the couch and gave him a look.   
"No, I don't want to, but I will." She came down the stairs and walked outside with him. Her car was a two-door red, old sports car, just big enough to fit the two of them and some grocery bags.   
Jonathan got into the passenger seat and put his headphones over his ears. Cassie turned on the radio anyways.   
They drove without speaking until they hit the highway.  
"Jon!" she shouted. He ripped off his headphones.  
"Holy God, Cassie, what?!"   
She laughed but then her tone got serious.  
"You need to talk to me about Sock."  
Jonathan sighed and rolled his eyes.  
"There's nothing to say."  
"You say that all the time but yet when you're up all night that's all I hear you talking about."   
"Shit," he whispered.   
"It's not a secret to me."  
"This is the house," Jonathan pointed to the large grey house on the corner, with a few teenagers straying around the yard.  
"Alright," she said, with a wave. "Be careful, little brother." He waved back and stuffed his hands in his pocket on his way up to the front door.


	2. i've been locked in

Ben opened the door.  
"Jonathan!" A large smile appeared on his face. "Come on in!"  
Jonathan gravitated towards the nearest corner. There weren't that many people in the house, but there was lots and lots of drinks.   
Girls he recognized from some classes were schmoozing with each other, he saw some familiar jocks and surprisingly some outliers there, too.   
They wandered around the house, munching on some tortilla chips and saying hello to some others.   
"This is the lamest party I've ever been to," Ben said.  
"How many parties have you really been to?" Jonathan smiled.  
"We're not going to talk about that."   
"Anyways," Jonathan said, waving to a guy he recognized from math.  
In the other room a game of spin the bottle was in progress.  
"Want to go play?"  
"Eh.. sure."   
They walked together to the smaller living room on the first floor, where a group of people were sitting in a small circle.   
"Everyone, this is Jonathan!" Ben introduced him.  
Only a few greeted him.   
They sat down, making their way into the circle.   
A girl with dark purple hair pulled up into a ponytail spun the bottle, and everyone sat in anticipation. It slowed down to a stop and the top pointed right to Jonathan.  
He blushed and walked over to the girl.   
She put her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in. Her lips were soft and her kiss was hard.   
She then pulled back and smiled at Jonathan. He felt his cheeks getting rosy and slumped back to his spot. She continued to look at him as he sat down.   
"Ooh, get some," Ben laughed and clapped his hands. He watched the girl smile and cover her face with her long green sleeves.   
He and Ben sat and watched a few more rounds, but eventually got bored and left the circle after the game took a more serious turn. 

 

Ben stood beside him.   
"Zack is looking for you."   
Those five words made Jonathan's eyes open wider. Zack was the kind of jock that was just.. suspiciously flamboyant. He was shy but kind towards Jonathan, subtlely a little more than friendly.   
"Yeah, where is he?"  
"Probably drinking somewhere."   
"No parents?"  
"Nope." Ben still had a smile on, leading Jonathan around the house.   
In the big living room some guys sat around smoking, in the kitchen were some girls laughing and eating, but otherwise, there seemed to be no activities. Ben went to get Jonathan a beer.   
"Here, this is so we can talk more."  
Jonathan took a long drink and licked his lips.  
"I still wanna know what's going on."   
Jonathan avoided the subject.  
"Where's Zack?"  
"Oh, I think he must be upstairs." Ben beckoned Jonathan to walk up the stairs. Jonathan felt his shirt stick to his chest and hands clench.   
"Alright."   
He checked his phone for the time. It was only 8:30?   
Upstairs were a few posh rooms and a bathroom.  
Zack came out of one room, holding a cup in his hand.  
"Jonathan!" he exclaimed, embracing him in an awkward one armed hug.   
"Uh, hey," he mumbled back.   
"You look pretty hot tonight," Zack leaned in closer and set a hand on Jonathan's waist.  
"Thanks..." Jonathan replied, realizing this guy was mostly wasted.   
He was this gone at 8:30?   
Zack took a long gulp of his drink and threw it to the floor, the sour and sticky liquid getting all over Jonathan's shoes.  
Jonathan took a step back, still in shock at the state of his shoes, now getting a bit frightened. Zack put his other hand on Jonathan's waist and pulled him into the bathroom, locking the door before he could dash out.   
"What the hell.. dude, stop!" Jonathan pushed Zack away and made a step towards the door.   
"We're not done yet," Zack murmured and grabbed Jonathan's shirt. He jerked away but his shirt ripped, and tears sprung to his eyes.  
"Stop!" He yelled.   
Zack muted his shouts by placing his hand over Jonathan's mouth.   
He ripped the rest of Jonathan's shirt off and replaced his hand with his mouth. Jonathan attempted a scream but only a whisper came out. He felt a hand slip down his pants and his only instinct was to kick and fight, but for some reason his body couldn't function.   
"That's right, just calm down," he heard Zack say, grimacing.


	3. your heart shaped box for weeks

He woke up on the ground, chest bare and freezing, and smelling of beer.  
He realized what had just happened.  
His only reaction was to cry. So he cried- there on the sidewalk outside some stranger's house, open and vulnerable to the world. He looked around for a shirt but saw none. As he continued crying he looked all over the ground for his phone.  
He found it a few feet away, which required him getting up, which was an unimaginable deed. His whole body hurt and ached, but he managed to grab his phone.  
6:02 AM.  
He closed his eyes and laid back onto the concrete. 

"Jonathan!" a voice whispered. 

His eyes shot open.   
"It's me.."

Jonathan shook his head. It wasn't possible, he knew he was hallucinating.   
"Go away," he mumbled. "Let me sleep."  
No voice returned his plea.   
"Wait," he whispered. "Please come back."  
He heard no voice respond.

 

"Jonathan, oh my God...!" Cassie's voice rang out.

"Oh my God," she repeated to herself. "What happened..."  
Jonathan's eyes slowly opened, and he saw her face.   
"I'm okay," he said, before breaking out into a quiet crying fit.   
"No, no you're not."   
She took him into her arms, and smelled the sweat and alcohol all over his face.   
"We need to get home, or somewhere else. Who did this to you?"  
Jonathan just cried.  
"I don't- I don't know. But I heard him."   
"Him? Sock?"  
"Yes," Jonathan gasped between sobs.   
Cassie said no more and helped him stand up. She sat him down in her car and gave him the remains of a chicken salad sandwich.   
They drove in silence.  
Jonathan kept his eyes on the street. He took out his phone and looked at it, but saw the screen had completely shattered.   
It was kind of a good thing. This way he couldn't see what people were saying about him.  
They got home, and Jonathan ran downstairs to his room. He dared to look in the mirror, and saw bruises up and down his body and scratches all over his face and elbows.   
He quickly opened his dresser and pulled out a new shirt, and slipped it over his head. 

"Parents aren't here, Jonathan!" Cassie yelled from upstairs. He came upstairs and into the kitchen to take his medicine. He ran some water and threw the pills onto his tongue.   
Cassie came over to him and asked if he'd like another sandwich. She gave it to him and got some water for herself. 

"I think you should stay home this weekend, and just chill out. You can come with me to work if you want."  
"I don't really want to do that."  
"I'm not leaving you alone here."   
"Fine."  
"If you come you can stay in the back. Nobody will bother you."  
Jonathan was shaking, still nervous.  
Cassie put her hands on his shoulder and sighed.   
"You gotta stop doing this stuff."  
Jonathan pulled away.   
"It's not my fault this happened to me!"  
"I wasn't saying that. I just don't think it's a good idea to do risky things like going to parties, or whatever you do. Just because you're hoping Sock shows up doesn't mean you have to do these things."  
"But it's the only way to see him."  
"Almost dying? Yeah, it's not worth it."   
Jonathan didn't reply, and stormed outside to the car.   
He didn't mind if it was hot inside, as long as he could just take a break from his sister. He felt used and disgusting, and misunderstood. If she really understood she would get why he did these things to see him for just a second.   
There was nothing else to do, and now even his sister didn't get it.  
He got out of the car and started running. The sidewalk flew by beneath his feet. The air was cold and sharp, just how it was in the morning. His face was hot, however, burning with the fear of everything, and anger. He reached the park, but it wasn't as welcoming as always.   
Especially not now. He saw Zack Melto and his posse laughing and hitting each other playfully on the play set.   
He tried walking away slowly, but his running footsteps already grabbed their attention.  
"Hey, it's that little Jonathan dude!" One guy shouted, jumping down from the play set and pointing. Zack looked up and looked sick, but also pleased.  
"Come here, Jonny-boy!" He yelled.   
Jonathan stood in shock, unable to move his mouth or more importantly, legs. The group moved in closer to him, and the closer they got the more Jonathan realized how many guys there were.   
"I didn't mean to come here, I'm sorry-"   
"Be quiet, baby boy," Zack leaned in closer, and his gang stood around them.   
"Leave me alone..."  
"He's all talk and no action, Zack."   
Jonathan didn't know what to do. Every situation like this ended up in his body going numb and him being cornered.   
He just started to crying.  
"Awh, Jonathan, you came back for more, huh?"   
"No.."  
"That's not what you seemed to tell me last night."  
Jonathan felt acid rise to his throat, and as soon as he knew it, his sandwich was all over Zack's chest.


	4. i've been drawn into

"Oh my God, that's nasty!"  
The boys around him yelled in disgust.   
"Just get out of here, Jonathan."  
Zack shoved him and told him to get away.   
Jonathan was able to move his legs now, and sprinted away, not looking back. 

He ran as fast as he could, and as far away as he could. A library just up ahead was in view, and it seemed like the best option. His mouth tasted horrible with every breath he took, and his mind wasn't thinking anywhere near straight. People looked at him strange, vomit dripping down his shirt, black circles under his eyes. He ignored the looks, as he got more and more used to them, and continued to jog. 

The library stood on the corner, a tall brick building with long windows and two big doors. He entered through the doors and looked for a place to sit down.   
He realized he left his phone at home.  
Bookshelves towered all around him, looking mildly intimidating. He picked a random book off the nearest shelf to look casual, and not like he had just ran away.   
There were chairs in a small secluded section near the young adult book section, so he settled for that. He took a look at his book.  
"Gardening For the Urban Farmer"  
Oh, great.   
He flipped to a random page.

"Hello!" A voice beside him squeaked. He shut the book and shook his head a couple times.

"Jonathan, you're an idiot."  
He turned around and saw Sock, floating behind him.  
"Why did you choose that book? You want to plant some corn?"  
Jonathan blinked his eyes slowly.  
"What the hell?" He murmured to himself.  
"I'M BACK!" Sock yelled,  
Jonathan made a loud noise, something close to a terrified scream, or a cheer of joy.   
A librarian gave him a dirty look.

 

"Jesus, what happened, Sock?!"   
His voice echoed in the tile bathroom walls.   
"I just needed a break."  
"Oh, great, I needed your vague hints again."  
Jonathan sneered sarcastically.   
"I can't explain it right here and right now."   
He felt the strange and angry desire to just kiss him.  
"Goddamn."   
"Just trust me, Jonathan. I'm here to stay."  
For what seemed the hundredth time that day, he burst into tears.   
"Do you know what kind of stuff that I've gone through just to see you?"  
"Yes..."  
"So you've been watching me?"  
"Well, yes."  
"Man, fuck you, Sock."   
Sock laughed.   
"It's not funny!" Jonathan buried his head into his disgusting shirt.   
He heard the restroom door open and someone get into the stall next to him.   
He stifled his cries and sat in silence.  
Sock stood there with his arms crossed, looking at Jonathan. The person next to him flushed the toilet and left the bathroom.   
"That was close," Sock giggled.   
Jonathan rolled his eyes and stared at Sock.

“What took you so long?”

“I can’t say.”


	5. oh, hell

"What have you done?!"  
Sock's small smile fell away.   
"I couldn't not, sir."   
Mephistopheles crossed his arms and glared at the younger boy.   
"You know this wasn't supposed to happen. Honestly, Sock. He was so close to self destruction."   
Sock sighed and shrugged.  
"I'm not gonna have that happen to him."

-

 

Jonathan sunk deeper into the couch. The circles under his eyes got darker as the days went by. He didn't leave his spot on the couch, and barely felt the need to move at all.   
Cassie walked by, shaking her head at him. He expected some draining speech from her but instead she walked past and downstairs.  
His parents just gave up on even questioning his intentions.  
No phone, no computer, no anything to try to communicate.

The doorbell rang.  
Cassie yelled, "I'll get it!"  
There was some muffled chatter and footsteps up the stairs.   
"Someone's here for you."   
Jonathan rose from the couch, running a hand through his hair and straightening his shirt.  
"Who is it?"  
The purple-haired girl he'd seen before came up the stairs, smiling.   
"Uh, hi, Jonathan."   
"Oh, hey, Lil..."  
She reached out to touch him on the shoulder.  
He jumped at the touch.  
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to-"  
"No, no, it's okay. Why did you come?"  
"You haven't been at school for weeks."  
She crossed her arms.   
Jonathan shrugged, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.  
"Well, you know."  
"Yeah, I know. And we don't have to talk about it now."   
Lil nodded.  
He fixed his hair again, looking at her.   
"We can go talk in my room?"   
Jonathan beckoned her down the stairs, leading her into the dark hallway.   
"You ever clean up in here?"  
"Occasionally," he laughed.  
His room was at the end of the hall. He opened the door, releasing a musty stale smell.   
"I really haven't been in here for a while, you know." 

She sat down on the small couch he had in the corner. Jonathan leaned against the wall, looking over the room, realizing how messy it actually was. His hands clenched and opened nervously.   
"I can tell something's wrong."  
Jonathan stuttered.  
"N-no, I'm fine."  
He walked towards the couch, hands behind his back. Lil sat back, watching him closely.  
"What?"   
"What, what?"   
"I don't know, Jonathan." She smirked.   
He sat down next to her.   
"Thank you... for, uh, coming to check on me. Everyone else hasn't bothered to see me."   
"No problem..."

Lil touched his shoulder again, slowly and carefully. He eased into the touch.   
She reached her other hand and put it on the ridge of his collarbone.   
Jonathan's shirt felt tighter and tighter on his chest, almost as if his lungs were increasing size with every breath.  
Lil leaned in closer, moving her hand to touch the edge of his lips.  
"I don't know..." he whispered. She put her finger on his lips and moved her face towards his.   
Jonathan found his own hands on her chest.   
His eyes softened and his lips found their way to her neck. Chills ran through Lil as his lips touched her skin.   
"Kiss me," she said, wrapping her arms around him. She laid back onto the couch, smiling.  
He drew into a long kiss on her lips, his heart rate growing.   
Jonathan gasped into the kiss, wanting more. Lil's hands grabbed harder at his back.   
"Why is it all we ever do is kiss?" He asked smugly. She burrowed her face into his chest.  
"I don't have a problem with it."   
They laid on the couch, tangled, and smiling at one another.   
She ran her fingers through his bangs and twirled the strands. Jonathan became aware that his tight shirt was covered in sweat.   
"I don't have a problem either," he leaned in for another


	6. you know what?

"Hey, you came back to school!"  
Lil found Jonathan at his locker.  
"I don't know why, though."  
She hugged him, feeling the warmth of his chest.  
"Well, you're here. It's probably gonna be hard today but you'll make it."  
He grabbed a pencil out of his backpack.  
"I'm ready."  
She took his hand and walked down the hallway with him, parting ways to go to their own classrooms.  
The school was smaller and had a close community, and had your usual cliques and gangs. Zack Melto was the head of the school, star of every team, biggest all around "nice guy". People idolized him without even trying to get to know him. Jonathan flinched with disgust.  
He pushed the memory out of his head and tried to focus on finding a seat at a desk near the back.

"Jonathan Combs," his teacher barked.  
He looked up, an attempt at a smile forming on his face.  
Everyone turned to look at him.  
"Here," he peeped.  
The teacher continued with roll call.  
-

 

Sock floated along the sidewalk, feeling as down as ever. He watched Jonathan get off the bus, holding the purple-haired girl's hand. They talked together and chattered back and forth the whole time.  
It was as if Jonathan had totally forgotten about Sock.  
He stayed far behind the couple, sneaking between trees. They walked to the park, Jonathan's park. He watched them roll around in the wood chips together, kissing and laughing together. It was disgusting.  
They left after a while, going to their own houses.  
Sock watched Jonathan walk by himself, hands in his pockets, hair blowing over his eyes.  
Suddenly, Jonathan stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. Sock jumped behind the nearest tree, feeling the adrenaline. 

"I know you're there," he shouted, looking in Sock's direction.  
"I saw you when I was walking to the park."  
Sock slinked out of the shadows, head down.  
"You did that all with that girl knowing that I was watching?" Sock shouted back.  
"It's not a secret," Jonathan said.  
Sock felt tears swelling in his eyes.  
"You keep going away, anyways."  
"Look, it's not like I can just come down here whenever I want!"  
"It sure seems like it."  
Jonathan turned away, walking towards his house.


	7. ??

Jonathan clicked on the power button on his new phone.   
He scrolled through his contact list and clicked on Lil's contact. 

"Hello?"  
"Uh, hey, Lil."   
"What's up?"   
"I think we should talk for a minute."  
Jonathan felt hot and nervous. His fingers were almost trembling.   
"Yeah... is everything okay?"  
"No, not really," he said, shaking his head.   
She paused and was silent.  
"This isn't gonna work out. Not now."  
"Are you breaking up with me?"  
"We were ever together?"   
Jonathan heard her frustration.   
"Well, yeah! At least I thought so! Was I anything to you?" She blew up.   
"I never should of called," he said.   
"Alright, whatever. We can be done if you want. It's always been just what you want, not what I want. You're probably still into Zack. You probably lied about the whole 'rape' thing, anyways."  
That's what hurt the most.  
"You know I would never lie about something like that. Honestly, Lil."   
"Honestly, Jonathan. I'm done."  
She hung up.   
Well, that was that. Jonathan felt shaken from her comment about Zack. Hopefully she wouldn't go around school spreading anymore gossip about him. He immediately thought about all the dumb things he did around her. Those were probably going to become the new topics at school.   
Oh well, he just wouldn't go to school. 

He held the phone in his hand, then set it beside him on the bed. He heard Cassie walk to his door and knock on it.  
"You okay in there, Jonathan?"   
"Yeah."  
His head felt dizzy and he didn't feel really okay at all.   
He had just broken some one else's heart, and for no good reason at all. He didn't have her, or anyone else, and not even Sock.   
There was only one place he could go. 

The playground was once again empty. This time a swing was hanging by by its chain. His heart sunk. There was spray painted obscenity all over the swingset. He pondered what to do for a minute, but he couldn't think straight.   
Tears begun to drip down his cheeks.   
He found the end of the swing and wrapped it around his neck. The cold metal burned at his skin. He continued to wrap the chain around his neck. Between the feel of the metal and his wet tears he couldn't feel anything. He took the other swing and stood on it, bringing the whole contraption up into the air. He kept on wrapping the chain around him. 

"Stop!"  
Sock appeared before him, a terrified look on his face.  
"Sock, what the hell are you doing here now? You're too late," he said between sobs, "I don't care anymore!"   
Sock pulled out his knife and cut through the chains around Jonathan's neck.  
"...How..?!"  
Sock pushed him off the swing, which resulted in the taller boy landing in the woodchips face first.   
Jonathan stood up, rubbing his face. Sock ran towards him, arms wide open.   
"Say something, Sock," Jonathan said.   
"The only thing around your neck should be my arms."  
Sock threw his arms around Jonathan and leaned towards him. The sweet and salty taste of Jonathan's lips were indulgent to Sock. He felt like he had been waiting his whole life- and death- for this moment.  
"I'm sorry," Jonathan weeped. The two held their embrace. 

A sudden bang broke the silence.  
Jonathan's vision went black.

...

The End 

....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued.


End file.
